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I 



THE 



DIVINE RIGHT OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT. 



A SEKMON 



DELIVERED IN WHARTON STREET METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 
SABBATH, MAY ,,, 1861 



BY THE PASTOR, 

Rev. G. D. CAREOW. 

PUBLISHED BY UNANIMOUS REQUEST OF THE CONGREGATION. 






PHILADELPHIA: 

FROM BRYSON'S CALORIC POWER PRINTING ROOMS, 
No. 2 North Sixth Strekt. 

18 6]. 






\A} \1^ — *v/t"^^w> -^ -u^ ^-»^ 



A SERMON. 



THE DIVINE RIGHT OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT. 

Isaiah 1st chap. 2d v.-" Hear, heavens, and give ear, earth : for the Lord 
hath spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled 
against me." 

The history of the Jewish people, as contained in the Old Tes- 
tament, furnishes very many and very striking illustrations of 
the great truth that Divine Providence interferes with the affairs 
of individuals and nations. Indeed, the historical books of the 
Old Testament are literally crowded with the facts of Providen- 
tial oversight and interposition. The chief purpose of God, in 
his special dealings toward that people, was to make them the 
Depository of true religion, first, for their own advantage, and 
ultimately for the enlightenment and salvation of the whole 
human race. It was in accordance with this purpose, that they 
received favors innumerable and incomparable, justifyino- the 
grateful boast of their royal Bard and Prophet when he exclaimed, 
"He hath not dealt so with any nation, and as for his judo-ments' 
they have not known them." In the text, the Prophet appeals 
to this distinguishing care of the Infinite Providence in his 
loftiest strain: "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the 
Lord hath spoken ; I have nourished and brought up children 
and they have rebelled against me." In this sublime appeal, the 
Prophet intimates what Jesus, long centuries afterwards, ex- 
pressly declared in these words: "Where much is given, much 
will also be required." 

At present, there are no inspired men to announce the pur- 
poses of God, as did the Hebrew Prophets, or to record the facts 
of His providence, as did the Old Testament historians. But it 
requires not the eye of immediate inspiration to see and record 
that the care of Divine Providence, in a marked, pre-eminent 
degree, has been exercised pver this nation, from the birth of its 
first child, to that of the last of its thirty millions of people. 
Firmly convinced of this, I shall proceed to apply the text to the 
American people, as it was applied to the Jewish people by the 



God-annointed Propliet. And O, that He who touched Isaiah's 
hallowed lips with fire, might touch my heart, and inspire my 
tongue ! " I have nourished and brought up children, and they 
have rebelled against me." In their present application, these 
words suggest the following propositions— God has cared for the 
American people, as a father cares for his children— Rebellion 
against the American government, is rebellion against God. 

I. God has cared for the American people, as a father 
CARES FOR HIS CHILDREN.— This proposition needs no further 
proof, or illustration, than is to be found in the inheritance with 
which he has endowed them— his interposition in their favor at 
the most critical and decisive periods of their history, and the 
government which he has established for the security of their 
rio-hts and the promotion of their happiness. These facts, seve- 
rally, are so comprehensive and full of matter, that a mere allu- 
sion,' rather than an extended amplification, is all that can be 
attempted in the present discourse. 

1. We establish and illustrate the paternal care of God over the 
American people hy the inheritance with tvhich he has endoiued them.— 
Considering all the resources and advantages of this inheritance, 
it may be regarded as the richest and best that has ever fallen to 
the lot of a single nation. Would you survey the extent of it? 
Put your finger upon the atlas or globe, and trace its limits. You 
will see that it lies between the twenty-fourth and the forty-ninth 
parallels of north latitude— that it measures north and south 
nearly two thousand, east and west nearly three thousand— and 
that it includes an area of two million nine handred and sixty- 
three thousand six hundred and sixty-six square miles. Within 
this vast range of territory there is almost every variety of cli- 
mate that exists upon the face of the globe. In the north and 
east, there is the keen, bracing temperature of protracted wmter, 
with its hoards of frost, ice, and snow. In the central portions 
there are brief extremes of temperature, with long intervals of 
moderate heat, cold, and teeming showers. From the westward 
slopes of the Rocky Mountains to the verdant plains of the Pacific 
coast, perpetual mildness reigns. Al'ong the Atlantic seaboard, 
and the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, tropical thunders rend the 
sky— tropical rains drench the soil— tropical sunshine matures 
the snowy cotton, and ripens the golden orange— and upon all the 



yuonc, urruycd in beaut}', and rich in stores of luxury — tlio sol't, 
transparent heaven of the tropics, looks down with beaming- sniilcb'. 
There is no temperature, necessary for the purposes of health or 
pleasure, which the American citizen may not find within the 
limits of his native land. The piercing, raw, frosty, savage clime 
of the New Englander, threatens him with consumption and early 
death. To escape the doom, he crosses over into Florida — lino-ers 
for a season among the vines and orange groves of St. Augus- 
tine—and with his lungs soothed and healed, goes back to the 
embraces of his family— goes back to post the heavy Ledgers of 
the counting-room, or to guide the whirling spindles, or to wield 
the pen that is to charm the thoughtful reader, and write for 
immortality the author's name. 

The Southerner, enervated, and with seeds of yellow fever in 
his system, retreats, as the sun of the tropics advances ; and on 
the banks of the Hudson— the shore of the sea— the margin of 
the great lakes — in the shadows of the White Mountains— in 
Niagara's awful presence— he seeks the remedies which infallible 
Nature provides, and returns to his home a new man, as the 
first winds of autumn whisper gently through his latticed win- 
dow, and die in low murmurs mid the groves of the palm. 

As to the productions of this inheritance, what is there for 
manufacture — for domestic consumption, or foreign exportation, 
that is not here to be found? Here is ice to prepare and pre- 
serve all delicate viands— to cool the fevered brow— to comfort 
the weary sufferer through long days and sleepless nights of dis- 
ease and pain— granite to pave highways for the busy feet of mil- 
lions—marble to rear temples for the living God— gold to dimin- 
ish the charms of beauty, and to make coins for domestic circula- 
tion or foreign exchanges— lead to convey water to the homely 
kitchen, or the luxurious bath, to be wrought into cheap toys 
for the poor man's children, or moulded into bullets to vindicate 
the honor of the national flag, and to carry the nation's just 
retribution straight through the hearts of its enemies— fuel, in 
exhaustless supplies, to soften the rigors of the northern winter, 
and generate the prolific powers of steam— iron to build houses 
for great cities— navies for the ocean — to make tracks for the 
swift-footed engine, and tongues for the mysterious lightnings 
of God — timber for the ordinary purposes of domestic convcni- 



G 

ciico, and tlio ornaLo desigus of the parlor and the bed-chamber 

bread to strengthen man's heart — wine to cheer his faintino- 
spirits— oil to make his face to shine— all luxuries of the animal 
and vegetable kingdoms to meet the demands of rational plea- 
sure, or to tempt a morbid appetite, and ensnare more deeply 
a wandering soul. And, whenever we cannot import them 
cheaper, we shall cultivate the tea of China— spin the silks of 
Europe and the East — breed the goats of Thibet, and weave the 
shawls of Cashmere. Look again over the scene of this brief 
survey — from the pine forests which skirt the great northern 
lakes to the palm groves that fringe the margin of the southern 
sea — from the slopes of the Alleghanies to the basin of the Mis- 
sissippi — from the peaks of the Eocky Mountains to the blue line 
of the Pacific Ocean, — and your eye will rest satisfied, that it is 
indeed, a rich, vast, magnificent heritage. Here is room for 
national expansion. Here may be found supplies commensurate 
with the wants of millions, multiplied till the hour that shall seal 
the destinies of the race. Endowed with such a heritage, how 
complete and impregnable is the basis of the nation's indepen- 
dence ! Sometimes it is asked, and with an air of grave signifi- 
cance, "if our government should adopt such a measure, or such 
a measure, what would France and England say ? If all rebel 
ports should be blockaded, will England consent to forego the 
supplies that she has heretofore drawn from our cotton fields?" 

To all such questions as these the true Patriot has but a single 
question to ask, and a single answer to give in return. Is our 
government right — is its action based upon the constitution and 
the laws? If it is, neither England, nor France, nor any other 
power, shall deter it from the pursuit of its chosen line of policy. 
Standing here, we shall presume to mind our own business, in 
our own constitutional and legal way, and shall alike defy the do- 
mestic traitor and the foreign foe. The character of the heritage 
which God has given to the American people, makes them inde- 
pendent of every other power in the universe save his own, and 
if the continents of the Old World, with all their ricketty despot- 
isms were submerged in the depths of the sea, they could live and 
flourish just as well without them. 

^ A7id noio turn ive again, for one moment, to the geography of 
this inheritance, and ive shall see that it ivas evidently designed hy 



Providence for the occupation of one people. For two reasons we 
we could not, if we would, divide tliis nation. First, the prece- 
dent of division once fully established, would in time lead to 
other divisions and sub-divisions, and ultimately to the extinc- 
tion of the national existence. Secondly, the natural outlets for 
the national productions must be kept open. The people of the 
southern States that have seceded, and those who would like to 
secede, inflamed and infatuated by a wretched class of lying, dis- 
appointed demagogues, say that they dislike, and even hate their 
own kindred of the loyal States, and neither can nor will longer 
be united with them in the same political bonds. Surely this is 
a terrible sentiment ! Surely there is no true Patriot in the loyal 
States, who does not deplore with real heart-pains, this state of 
feeling in his misguided kindred of the south! But, we cannot 
help it. We protest, notwithstanding, the intemperate zeal of 
certain individuals against the peculiar institution of the south, 
that we are not responsible for it. And considering the inevitable 
anarchy and ruin that would lurk in the first precedent of divi- 
sion, and the geographical structure of our common inheritance, 
we declare to our disloyal brethren of the south, you must live 
with us — there is no help for it — our present necessities, and our 
future destiny as a nation, alike demand it, and we hope that you 
will soon see this to be the case, as we see it, and conclude to sub- 
mit to it in a better state of mind. 

We could say to Maryland and Virginia, we have no need of 
you. We will therefore take down the monument which comme- 
morates the gallant deeds of our patriot fathers in Baltimore, and 
remove the hallowed remains of immortal Washington from 
Mount Vernon, and let you go. We could say to North Carolina, 
we have pine forests of our own, from which to manufacture pine 
boards, pitch, and turpentine. We will therefore treasure up the 
fact, that upon your soil was pronounced the first declaration of 
independence, and let you go. We could say to South Carolina, 
your rice and cotton are not indispensable. We will therefore 
reclaim the sacred dust of Jackson's mother, and the Parish Ke- 
gister that contains the record of Jackson's birth, and let you go. 
We could say to Louisiana — though our federal money bought 
you, when you were the beautiful slave of despotic France, and 
we are justly entitled to the revenue produced by your cane fields. 



we can do without it, aud can afford to import sugar from tlie 
West India Islands. A¥e will, therefore, take from your dis- 
honored brow the diadem of the battle of New Orleans, set it by 
the side of that of Chippewa in the crown of the nation's glory, 
and let you go. Traitors, as you are, you may, branded with the 
infamy of treason, together go about your business, and descend 
to receive the just reproaches of this and every other nation of 
freemen beneath the sun. The genius that framed the Federal 
Constitution — that invented the steam engine and the telegraphic 
wires, and that won great victories upon land and sea, could 
easily maintain all the arts of peace, and achieve the most glorious 
triumphs of war. Pennsylvania is a great empire. New York is 
a great empire. Massachusetts is greater than all. If, therefore, 
we could cut straight through this solid continent, and set you 
all afloat upon the bosom of the North Atlantic, we would do it, 
rather than draw the sword against brethren, whose fathers, with 
naked and bleeding feet, followed Washington to victory, and 
under Jackson revived the proud memories of Saratoga and York- 
town. But the continent defies our will and power. It must 
stand just as God made it, from everlasting to everlasting. And 
so long as Maryland guards the mouth of the Chesapeake — so 
long as Virginia and North Carolina front upon the Atlantic sea- 
board — so long as Florida and Alabama overlook the Gulf of 
Mexico — so long as Mississippi and Tennessee command the 
banks, and Louisiana closes the mouth of the " Father of Wa- 
ters" — just so long must those national highways and harbors be 
kept open and free, and the Star-spangled Banner shall float 
triumphant over the harbor of Boston and the bay of Mobile. 

2. We again establish and illustrate tlie paternal care of Ood over 
the American people, hy his interposition in their favor, at the most 
critical and decisive periods of their history. The American people 
have not an ancient and venerable history. Yet, though brief 
and recent is their story, it is great and marvellous, and is distin- 
guished chiefly, by two critical and decisive periods — when, if 
events had taken a difterent turn, they never would have been 
what they are, or never been at all. 

The first of these periods is that which was covered by the 
French and English war of seventeen-fifty-five, and sixty. That 
war involved a stubborn contest for supremacy upon this conti- 



nent, between a great despotic Catholic Monarchy, and a great 
Constitutional, Protestant Monarchy. If France had triumphed 
in that contest, and extended her views of civil and Ecclesiastical 
polity over these fair lands, there would have been no burning of 
the Stamp Act — no Tea party in Boston harbor-^^o declaration 
of rights in Independence Hall — no battle of Lexington and Con- 
cord — no defeat at Brandywine — no victory at Yorktown. But 
France did not triumph. He who reads the history rightly, will 
learn that Providence had pre-ordained her defeat in battle, and 
the consequent loss of her American colonies. God stretched 
forth his arm in favor of the embattled hosts of a people whose 
civil rights had for centuries been guarantied by the Great Char- 
ter, and whose hearts were deeply imbued with the doctrines, and 
the spirit of His uncorrupted word. That moment, on the 
Heights of Abraham, when Wolfe expired in the arms of victory, 
French despotism, and French popery, on this continent, received 
their doom. Wolfe's last victory was the natural antecedent of 
Washington's first; and the providential establishment of British 
supremacy on this continent, in seventeen hundred and sixty, led 
to the establishment of the independent nationality of the Ameri- 
can people, in seventeen hundred and eighty-three. Though 
Divine Providence could, he does not usually accomplish his 
great purposes by a single stroke of his Almighty hand. He 
rather moves gradually toward the ends which his wisdom has 
pre-determined ; and it was in accordance with this method, that 
the subjects of a Constitutional Monarchy triumphed in seventeen 
hundred and sixty, that a national Republic might be born in 
seventeen hundred and seventy-six, and adopted into the great 
family of nations in seventeen hundred and eighty-three. 

The second critical and decisive period in the history of the 
American people, is that which stood between the first gun fired 
at Lexington, and the last one fired at Yorktown. The American 
people have not studied the history of that momentous period 
with sufficient care. It ought to have greater prominence in 
American school-rooms. And if American Christians would 
more thoroughly regard it, their increased attention to, and inte- 
rest in it, would at the same time increase their patriotic devo- 
tion, and their faith in the providence of God. For, as surely as 
there was ever a providence over any people, was there a provi- 



10 

dencG over the American people during the years of their great 
struggle for freedom and national independence. As surely as 
God was in the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by 
night, that guided and saved the hosts of Israel, so surely was He 
in the cabinet^councils, the tented fields, the toilsome marches, 
and bloody battles, which marked the revolutionary career of our 
patriotic, gallant, and noble sires. It has always seemed to me, 
that the man who repudiates this truth, is no better than an 
Atheist, and is unworthy the honors of American citizenship, 
and the blessings of American freedom and civilization. But to 
refresh our memories, and confirm our faith, let us glance at some 
of the incidents of the period in question, which establish and 
illustrate the fact of Providential interference in behalf of the 
founders of this great Republic. First of all — when God would 
bring a new nation into being, he removes the obstacles to its 
conception, and prepares the way for its birth. In the History 
of England, we find the traces of these preparatory steps of the 
providence Divine. At the outbreak of the quarrel between the 
parent government and her colonies, William Pitt, great Earl of 
Chatham, was Minister of War, and the greatest war minister in 
the world. But the British King, Council, and Parliament, under 
an infatuation, that could have been nothing short of a Divine 
judgment, pursued obstinately and blindly such a course of oppo- 
sition to the views of Pitt, as compelled that gifted and haughty 
minister to resign his place, and drove him into support of the 
colonial cause. At the same juncture, Lord Clive, founder of the 
British empire in the East Indies, and the greatest captain in the 
world, broke down under an accumulation of diseases, and in a 
fit of melancholy, cut short his eventful life, with his own hand. 
Now, had Pitt remained in office to provide the materiel of war, 
and had Clive lived to command the armies, the struggle of the 
colonists must have failed. But by the resignation of the one, 
and the death of the other, God removed the opponents, who 
could have subdued the patriots by concession and conciliation, 
or put them down by the power of the sword. 

It is not suf&cicnt , however, that the site be prepared on which 
the national edifice is to stand. Every nation to be newly con- 
structed, requires a Chief Architect. It is not sufficient that God 
gives to men the brave heart, the strong will, and the vigorous 



11 

anil. Every uutioii that is to bo iiiaJc free, every war for human 
rights, must have its Chief, all-conquering Captain. And now, 
we shall need nothing more on this part of the subject, if we will 
carefully note some of the marked instances of providential inter- 
ference in the training and preservation of the man, who was 
ordained of God, for the high purpose of conferring national 
existence and independence upon the American people. Mark 
we first, the presence of a Guardian Angel on the memorable 
day of Braddock's defeat, near Fort DuKane. On that fatal 
day, Washington served on Braddock's staff. After the General- 
in-Chief had been mortally wounded, and all the other officers of 
his staff had been disabled or struck down, young Washington 
conducted the retreat, and by his presence of mind and skillful 
movements, saved the broken and routed forces of his King from 
total destruction. That day an Indian Chief, covered his body 
with his deadly rifle seventeen times, and each time the ball was 
turned aside from the fatal line. Well might the savage ex- 
claim — " Some great Spirit protects him, and he is not to die by 
mortal hand." Why not? Because he was providentially re- 
served for the day when he should return to the nation the sword 
that had won its independence, and raised it to an exalted seat 
among the powers of the earth. Mark we again, the patriot 
army's escape after its signal defeat in the battle of Long Island. 
The King's forces well-sustained in that battle the old renown 
which their ancestors had won under Eugene of Savoy, and the 
great Duke of Marlborough. At all points, the patriots were 
beaten. It was to no purpose that the Maryland and Delaware 
line, led on by Hazlett and Smallwood, performed prodigies of 
valor. The defeat was regarded as total by the British General. 
And hemmed in all round, as were the patriot forces, the con- 
queror stationed his pickets and waited for the morning, sure 
that he would seize the Rebel Chiefs, and crush the rebellion for- 
ever. But in the still hours of that awful night, Washington 
collected the remnants of his troops — broken and bleeding — 
arranged his tents and baggage, and at a few hundred paces from 
the British sentinels, began his retreat. Standing in person at 
the point of embarkation, he watched with anxiety, which we 
may imagine, but can never know, each boat as it receded from 
the shore, till ail had passed over. Then he followed with his 



12 

staff; and as the first rays of the morning sun kissed the cheek 
of the placid waters, all were again united beyond the reach of 
danger. The momentous prize had escaped the British chief- 
tain's hand. Verily there is not a more marked providence in 
the whole Bible. Verily that was a providence, amounting to a 
miracle. Verily the Angel of God must have closed the avenues 
of sound in all the surrounding air, during that night, so big 
with events involving the safety of the patriots, and the salvation 
of their country. Eemarking upon this circumstance, says Mr. 
Irving in his Life of Washington, — "Never did retreat rec[uire 
greater secrecy and circumspection. Nine thousand men with 
all the munitions of Avar, were to be withdrawn from before a 
victorious army, encamped so near, that every stroke of spade 
and pick-axe from their trenches could be heard. The retreating 
troops, moreover, were to be embarked and conveyed across a 
strait three-quarters of a mile wide, swept by rapid tides. The 
least alarm of their movement would bring the enemy upon 
them, and produce a terrible scene of carnage and confusion at 
the place of embarkation. Many who considered the variety of 
risks and dangers which surrounded the camp, and the apparently 
fortuitous circumstances which averted them all, were disposed 
to attribute the safe retreat of the patriot army to a peculiar 
'providence^'' 

Mark we yet another instance of providential interference. 
On the day of the battle of Brandywine, at early dawn, a horse- 
man from the American lines was reconnoitering, and came 
unexpectedly so near upon a British sentinel as to be within 
certain, point blank range of his fire. In an instant, the horse- 
man wheeled upon his track, and the sentinel as quickly drew 
his musket upon him. The horseman looked over his shoulder 
at him, — saying not a word — and the sentinel withdrew his aim. 
The horseman, still looking over his shoulder, slightly quickened 
the pace of his steed. The sentinel again brought his musket to 
his shoulder, and again let it fall upon his arm. The horseman 
was still within easy range, when the sentinel, the third time, 
lifted his musket to his shoulder, but strangely as it may seem, 
the third time let it fall, and stood looking at the receding 
stranger. A moment more, and the horseman, rising in his 
stirrups, lifted his hat to the sentinel and rode away. Why did 



lie renerve his lire ? Because it was the same mau of whom the 
Indian Chief declared, twenty years before, that he was not to 
die by mortal hand. It was Washington, bearing the hopes of 
his country, and encircled with the arms of Almighty God. A 
skeptic will sneer at these incidents, and attempt their explana- 
tion upon principles, to which, if they give him any comfort, he 
is heartily welcome. But every mind that is guided by right 
reason, will interpret them as proofs of a special, divine protec- 
tion over the heads of those whom G©d selects for the accom- 
plishment of his extraordinary purposes. We might multiply 
these instances of providential interposition, for they continued 
to transpire throughout the entire period of the war of inde- 
pendence. But, what has been advanced may be fairly deemed 
sufficient for the present purpose. 

3. Finally^ we establish and illustrate the jMternal care of God 
over the American people^ hy a brief allusion to the history and char- 
acter of the government, ivhich he has established for the security of 
their rights and the promotion of their happiness. — During the 
darkest days of the struggle for independence, the patriots felt 
that union was indispensable to victory. Inflaenced by this 
conviction, the delegates of the thirteen States, in Congress 
assembled, on the fifteenth of November, seventeen seventy- 
seven, agreed to certain articles of confederation and perpetual 
union between the States. That confederation framed by Con- 
gress, in the City of Philadelphia, was ratified by the same body, 
in the same city, on the ninth of July, seventeen seventy-eight, 
after having been submitted to the consideration of the several 
Legislatures of the States. Article II. of that confederation, is 
as follows : 

" Each State retains its sovereignti/, freedom and independence, and 
every power, jurisdiction and right, which is not by this confederation 
expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled.'^ 

Article VIII. is as follows : 

" All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be incurred for 
the common defence or general welfare, and allowed by the United 
States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, 
which shall be supplied by the several States, in proportion to the value 
of all land within each State, granted to or surveyed for :iny person, as 
such land, and the buildings and improvements thereon shall be estimated 
accordino' to such mode as the United States in Congress assembled, shall 



14 

fruiu tiuic to time direct and appoint. Tlie taxes for paying that pro- 
portion, sliall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the 
Legislatures of the several States within the time agreed upon by the 
United States in Congress assembled." 

Article XIII. is as follows : 

" Every State shall abide by the determinations of the United States 
in Congress assembled, on all questions which by this confederation is 
submitted to them. And the Articles of this confederation shall be in- 
violably observed by every State, and the union shall he jyerjjetual ; nor 
shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them, unless 
such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be 
afterwards confirmed by the Legislatures of every State." 

"We cite these Articles, to show you how vain were the noble 
intentions, how impossible the patriotic hopes of the authors, 
under the system of government which they had adopted. In 
the second Article, each State retained its sovereignty, and might 
upon the occurrence of an exigency, deemed sufficient, nullify 
the enactments or withdraw the powers which it had delegated 
to the confederate government. The eighth Article provided 
that Congress should contract expenses for the maintenance of 
the "common defence," and the promotion of the "general 
welfare," but assigned their payment to a common treasury to be 
supplied by the States, in pursuance of the votes of their respec- 
tive Legislatures, But in case a State Legislature should disap- 
prove an act of the confederate government, and refuse to levy 
taxes for the payment of expenses incurred in pursuance thereof, 
there was no provision in the Articles of confederation by which 
such refractory State could be compelled to meet its obligations. 
Again, Article second and Article thirteenth, might easily be so 
construed as to be brought into direct conflict. Article thirteenth 
provided that the authority of the National Congress should in 
certain cases, be absolute and final, and that the union should be 
perpetual, but, while by Article second each State retained its 
sovereignty, the decrees respecting the authority of Congress and 
the perpetuity of the union, set forth in Article thirteenth, were 
not worth the paper on which they were written. No one can 
carefully read this instrument, produced by the patriot legislators 
in their first attempt to create a system of national government, 
and not perceive that in the total absence of precedents, it was 
impossible for them to complete their great task, without addi- 



1,5 

tional observation and experience. What tliey conceived and 
ordained, was a union without the power of self-preservation — a 
confederate system, whose laws depended for enforcement upon 
the will and pleasure of the individual States, and which in con- 
sequence, might be taken to pieces at any moment. The con- 
federacy served very well as a bond of union, and of concerted 
action, while the States were under the pressure of a common 
danger. But as soon as the war was over, and the fear of subju- 
gation was gone, it was found to be totally inadequate to the 
original design of its authors. And here permit me to remark, 
that if the secessionists of this day would _ candidly read that 
period of our history, which transpired between the close of the 
revolutionary war, and the adoption of our present Constitution, 
they could no longer honestly accept Mr. Calhoun as an inter- 
preter of the theory of our federal government. I have said 
that the confederate system was found to be totally inadequate to 
the purposes of national union, harmony, and prosperity. No 
leading man who had observed its practical workings, was more 
sensible of that fact than Washington. " I have ever," said he, 
" been a friend to adequate power in Congress, without which, it 
is evident to me, we never shall establish a national character^ or 
be considered as on a respectable footing by the powers of 
Europe. We are either a united people under one head, and for 
federal purposes, or we are thirteen independent sovereignties, 
eternally counteracting each other. If the former, whatever 
such a majority of the States as the confederation points out, con- 
ceives to be for the benefit of the whole, should, in my humble 
opinion, be submitted to by the minority. I can foresee no evil 
greater than disunion." In reply to Mr. Jay on the same subject, 
he said — " We have errors to correct. We have probably had too 
good an opinion of human nature in forming our confederation. 
Experience has taught us that men will not adopt and carry 
into execution measures best calculated for their own good, with- 
out the intervention of coercive 'power. I do not conceive we can 
exist long as a nation, without lodging, somewhere, a power 
which will pervade the whole Union, in as energetic a manner, as 
the authority of the State governments extends over the several 
States. To be fearful of investing Congress, constituted as that 
body is, with ampl^ authority for national purposes, appears to 



16 

me the very climax of popular absurdity and madness. Could 
Congress exert them for the detriment of the people, without 
injuring themselves in an equal or greater proportion? Are not 
their interests inseparably connected with those of their constitu- 
ents ? His former aide-de-camp, Col. Humphreys, wrote to him 
as follows ; "A general want of compliance with the requisitions 
of Congress, for money, seems to prognosticate that we are rapidly 
advancing to a crisis. Congress, I am told, are seriously alarmed, 
and hardly know which way to turn, or what to expect. Indeed, 
my dear General, nothing but a good Providence can extricate 
us from the present convulsion." Close upon the receipt of this 
letter came intelligence, that certain parties in Massachusetts, were 
arrayed in open rebellion against the government. " What, gra- 
cious God," exclaimed Washington, writing to General Knox, 
" is man, that there should be such inconsistency and perfidious- 
ness in his conduct ! I feel, infinitely more than I can express 
to you, for the disorders which have arisen in these States, Good 
God ! who, besides a Tory, could have foreseen, or a Briton pre- 
dicted them ? I do assure you that, even at this moment, when 
I reflect upon the present prospect of our affairs, it seems to me 
to be like the vision of a dream." To James Madison he wrote 
in the same strain. " How melancholy is the reflection, that in 
so short a time, we should have made such large strides toward 
fulfilling the predictions of our transatlantic foes ! ' Leave them 
to themselves, and their government Avill soon dissolve ! ' Will 
not the wise and good strive hard to avert this evil ? Or will 
their suppineness suffer ignorance, and the arts of self-interested 
and designing, disaffected and desperate characters, to involve 
this great country in wretchedness and contempt ? What stronger 
evidence can he given of the ivant of energy in our government than 
these disorders? If there is not power in it to check them, what 
security has man for life, liberty, or property ? Thirteen sove- 
reignties pulling against each other, and all tugging at the federal 
head, will soon bring ruin on the whole; whereas, a liberal and 
energetic constitution, well checked and well watched, to prevent 
encroachments, might restore us to that degree of respectability 
and consequence to which we had the fairest prospect of attain- 
ing." Such was the practical result of State sovereignty — such 
the sorry pass to which it brought the country in three short 



years after the recognition of its indepeudence. It was clearlv 
seen that the government instituted by the articles of confedera- 
tion was nothing but a rope of sand. Then arose the momen- 
tous necessity of constructing a new government. The great 
problem to be solved was that of a government, investing the 
federal authorities with power sufficient to preserve the States 
from anarchy and self-destruction — and at the same time invest- 
ing the States with such prerogatives as would effectually check 
the federal authority, and prevent it from the assumption and 
exercise of the powers of a despotism. This, too, is to be 
considered, the statesman upon whom devolved the task of 
a reconstruction of the federal system, were required to work 
without models. Neither the Eepublics of Greece and Rome, 
nor those of the Middle Ages, furnished any thing to their pur- 
pose. But without precedents, they were capable of originating 
a system, worthy of being regarded as a precedent in all future 
time. They were not profound dreamers — not metaphysicians 
merely, but richly endowed with the keenest logic of common 
sense, and the highest attributes of practical wisdom. They had 
given the federal system of seventy-seven a fair trial, and it had 
proved to be the constitution of a debating society rather than 
the constitution of a government. 

The convention, consisting of delegates from all the States, 
assembled in Philadelphia, on the 2oth of May, seventeen hun- 
dred and eighty-seven. Washington, by a unanimous vote, was 
chosen to preside over its deliberations. Prominent among the 
members, were Adams, Jay, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, and 
Franklin. It may well be doubted whether any previous legisla- 
tive Assembly had ever contained an equal amount of talent and 
patriotism, and whether in these respects it will ever be surpassed 
by any that remain to be convened from the generations of the 
future. Various were the opinions entertained by the lagisla- 
tors, varied the interests which they represented, but the grand 
motive was the same in every heart. Looking away from them- 
selves, and looking at their country — passing in their noble 
thoughts beyond their present crisis, and extending their calcula- 
tions into the distant future, their single aim was to frame a sys- 
tem of government, that would most certainly guard all the rights 
and interests of the existing moment, and perpetuate to the latest 



18 

posterity the liberties that had been so dearly and gallantly won. 
Four months were spent in deliberation. The result was the 
present Constitution of the United States. I have but three 
remarks to make upon this accomplished work of those immortal 
men. First, under the confederate system, it was expressly pro- 
vided that the Union should be 'pe7yetual, and yet, the constitution 
was designed to form a more^^e^yec^ union. Secondly, the delegates 
who framed the constitution regarded themselves as the represen- 
tatives and servants of the American people. Thirdly, the con- 
stitution thus formed was submitted to the people for their ratifi- 
cation. The preamble to the instrument itself tells the whole 
great story in a few lines : " We, the people of the United States, 
in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure 
domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote 
the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to our- 
selves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution 
for the United States of America." In this constitution, we have 
the result of the profoundest wisdom, and the most exalted 
patriotism ; and it will be entirely appropriate to the view main- 
tained throughout this discourse, to introduce Washington's 
reflections upon the joint labors of himself and his distinguished 
compatriots. " We may," said he, " with pious and grateful 
exultation, trace the finger of Providence through those dark and 
mysterious events, which first induced the States to appoint a 
general convention, and then led them, one after another, by 
such steps as were best calculated to effect the object, into an 
adoption of the system recommended by the general convention ; 
thereby in all human probability, laying a lasting foundation for 
tranquility and happiness, when we had but too much reason to 
fear, that confusion and misery were coming rapidly upon us." 
Washington believed that the federal government was organized 
under the immediate superintendence of God, and so in the name 
of God let it stand forever ! The people of the United States, 
as Washington believed, and as we believe, guided by Divine 
Providence, made the federal government. It follows, therefore, 
that the people only, convened in national convention, can abolish 
it, and substitute another form of government in its place. They 
may, as. the primary, and supreme source of all political power, 
modify, or abolish the present government, and adopt in its stead. 



19 

a constitutional monarchy, or an absolute despotism. As long 
as they refuse to do this, there is no power that can break the 
bonds of the federal government, but the power of a revolution. 
In this view of the case, if the southern chiefs had disclaimed all 
constitutional right to secede, and appealing to the sword, had 
fallen back upon the inherent and inalienable right of men to 
rebel against a government, which they disapprove and abhor, 
they would have been consistent, and making good their purpose 
of resistance, would have been entitled to recognition as an inde- 
pendent nation. But, when they talk of doing in separate State con- 
ventions, what can only be done in a joint convention of all the 
States, and proceed to maintain their action by an appeal to arms, 
they are adjudged guilty of the blackest treason, by every mnn 
who forms an honest opinion, from a correct apprehension of the 
true theory of the federal government. 

Of the character of the constitution itself, it does not come 
within the range of our purpose to speak, further than to say, that 
the distribution of State and federal prerogatives, was wisely 
adapted to the fact that the States could best provide for certain 
local wants within their respective bounds, and the United States 
could best provide for the harmony, protection, and general wel- 
fare of the whole country. The line of distinction between State 
and federal powers is very clearly drawn in the constitution. 
And if the citizen correctly understands and wisely choses his 
ground, no power on earth can touch him. Should Congress 
pass a law, infringing upon the rights of a State, the citizen's appeal 
would be to the Supreme Court, and with a decision pronounced 
in his favor, should the federal government attempt to coerce 
him, open resistance to the last extremity, Avould be his sacred 
privilege and duty. On the other hand, should the Legislature 
of a State enact a law, in conflict with a law of Congress, the 
appeal would be to the same tribunal, as in the case first supposed, 
and the decision rendered against the State enactment, the fede- 
ral government would be bound to say to all citizens, pleading 
the authority of such a law — we regard you in this matter, not 
as citizens of a particular State, but as citizens of the United 
States, bound in this case to render obedience to the federal 
laws, made under the solemn sanction of the national constitu- 
tion. Framed in this way, our constitution has been regarded 
by the best and wisest men of foreign nations, as the most per- 



20 

feet piece of political economy ever devised by mau. The fact 
is, as we have seen, the men who made it, believed themselves to 
be encharged with a sacred duty for the benefit of posterity in their 
own and other countries, and to be standing face to face with God, 
as did Moses, on Sinai's flaming mount. 

And now, be it observed that a government, for whose origin 
is claimed the interposition of a divine providence, may justly be 
expected to confer pre-eminent privileges upon its subjects. If this 
test be applied to the federal government of these United States, its 
claims to providential interference and approbation, and its de- 
mands upon the life-long gratitude and supreme reverence of its 
citizens, will be established beyond those of any other govern- 
ment that has ever existed in this world. It guarantees equal 
right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Under its 
just, equal, generous, inspiring sway ; genius, talent, and industry, 
never fail to receive suitable acknowledgment and remuneration. 
If under its administration a citizen amounts to nothing, he 
ought not to complain, for it is verily because there is nothing in 
him. We have seen marvels of progress and improvement under 
its fostering care, that were little short of miracles. That magni- 
ficent mansion yonder, with its ample grounds and princely fur- 
niture, is the property of a man who was once a bare-footed boy 
in these streets. The dome of yon proud Capitol, o'erlooking 
the banks of the Potomac, has echoed to the utterances of the 
eloquent tongue, whose infant wails were hushed beneath the 
humble roof of a forest cabin, or in the naked room that flanks 
the narrow lane of the city's poor. The passage has been from 
the door of the church's charity to the hallowed sway of the 
Bishop's mitre, and from the handles of the plow to the desk of 
the statesman. This moment, two men stand conspicuously be- 
fore the eyes of this nation, as illustrations of the equal justice 
and beneficence of its government. I allude to them not to" 
compare them. God forbid that I should pollute and dishonor 
the one by the contact of comparison with the other. They are 
Abraham Lincoln and Alexander H. Stephens. Under any other 
government, Mr. Lincoln would never have been known beyond 
a narrow circle of honest neighbors on our Western frontier. 
Under any other government, Mr. Stephens would never have 
occupied a seat in the national Tjegislature, and the foimtains of 



21 

genius and eloquence which unquestionably exist within him, 
would have remained sealed forever. Whatever their political 
leaders may be, it is no matter of surprise that the American 
people are loyal to their government, and ready to pour out the 
last drop of their blood in defence of its sacred claims. It is 
their government that secures and gives value to their other 
blessings. Without this, notwithstanding their inheritance, so rich 
and vast, they would still be poor in the midst of plenty. Without 
this, the proud records of their past history, would soon be converted 
into reproaches, and would by very contrast, make more despic- 
able, the weakness and ingratitude, the shame and dishonor of a 
people, who had proved themselves so utterly unworthy of the 
divine call to be great and free. 

II. Eebellion against the American Government is Re- 
bellion AGAINST God. — This second proposition naturally 
arises out of the first. The paternal care of God exercised over 
the country from the beginning — displayed in the most critical 
junctures of our history — and so manifestly present in the forma- 
tion of our government, sets to the Constitution of these United 
States, and the laws enacted in pursuance thereof, the seal of a 
divine authority. The old doctrine of the divine right of kings, 
is worthy of the support which it has so long received from 
despots and sycophants, and nothing more. Nature indicates, 
beyond a doubt, where God has established the sources of govern- 
ment. The right to institute government, inheres in the people, 
for the reason that the people are to bear its burdens, and to be 
chiefly affected by its character and administration. And the 
right to make, as we have before said, implies the right to change 
or destroy. These truths accord Avith the voice of nature and 
the appointment of God. 

1. The chief ends of government, are the protectioyi and happiness 
of the people. — When, therefore, a government subverts, instead 
of promoting these ends, it forfeits all claim to obedience, and 
justifies the rebellion that defies and breaks it down. When a 
government organizes and sends forth armies to trample upon the 
legal rights of its subjects or citizens — when it levies taxes in 
opposition to its constitutional prerogatives — when it lays the 
burdens of the State upon the laboring poor, and grants to the 



rich and great, complete exemption — when it elevates the few to 
intelligence, power, and splendor, and dooms the many to ignor- 
ance, servitude and wretchedness — when it lays sacreligious 
hands upon the ark of human conscience, makes a creed, and 
with halter in hand, or fagots on the pile, or naked steel to the 
bosom, says, — bow down and worship ; then, whether it was. 
originally constituted by the people, or the king, rebellion 
becomes a duty as sacred as prayer, as holy as the sacraments, 
and as imperative as the law Avritten upon the tables of stone. 
It was ao-ainst such abuses as these — abuses ancient and crush- 
ing — established and maintained by a high, imperious hand— 
that the guns of Garibaldi thundered in the gorges of the 
Alps, and on the banks of the Yolturno. Deliverance from 
such oppression, inflicted in the name of government, per- 
verted from its legitimate ends, furnishes the ground of Gari- 
baldi's present fame, and his title to immortality. For this, it is, 
that starving mothers cling to his knees, and fathers emancipated 
from their chains, kneeling with their little children, kiss the 
ground beneath the feet of the simple hearted, unpretending 
hero, and pay him homage, akin to that which the devout soul 
offers before the altars of its God. 

2. Biit have any such enormities as these been 2^e'''2iet>-atGd in the 
administration of our federal government^ Have its fundamental 
principles been ignored? Have the precepts of Washington 
been laughed to scorn ? Has the chair of State, in which he sat, 
been desecrated by a tyrant's form ? Have troops been raised — 
have taxes been levied — have the rights of conscience been 
invaded, in violation of the federal Constitution — or has a single 
State law been broken by the federal arm, or so much as touched 
by one of its little fingers? To all these, and every kindred 
question, there comes a negative answer from the great loyal 
heart of the nation, like the thunders of Niagara. Even the 
rebel chiefs themselves, impudent and shameless, as is the front 
they have assumed, do not dare the avowal that any State law, or 
individual right has been invaded, either by the federal govern- 
ment, or any portion of the people of the loyal States. So far 
from this, the national administration has been conducted with 
scrupulous regard to the rights of all citizens, and the highest 
welfare of the whole country. In this connection, two facts, 



bearing upon the present contest, arc worthy of special notice. 
First, the North and East, the sections that are said to have 
goaded the Sonth into rebellion, have from time to time, for 
many years, submitted to the operation of tariff laws, which were 
favorable to the South, but highly prejudicial to their material 
prosperity. Secondly, while in the North and East, the fugitive 
slave law, was from the first, and now is, almost universally re- 
garded as directly in conflict with the natural rights of men, and 
the moral laws of the gospel ; it has been submitted to for the 
sake of the union, and because it is generally believed to have 
been enacted in accordance with the Constitution. This, I take 
it, is the only Southern grievance that can be brought home to 
the loyal States. Certain citizens, belonging to the sect of the most 
ultra-abolitionists, have said very absurd things in their pulpits, 
and other places, and have printed some very clever things, and 
many very silly, spiteful, abusive things, against the peculiar in- 
stitution of slavery. But is this to be Avondered at? Is it 
matter of surprise that people, born and bred in free States, and 
knowing the advantages of free, as compared with slave labor, 
should think and say things not flattering to the opinions and 
feelings of slave-holders ? Besides this, if the slave-owners and 
advocates are right, according to their own fullest belief and con- 
viction, they have neither much religion, nor philosophy, if they 
cannot afford to regard the hardest tvords as very little things. 
They surely know but very little of the history of nations, 
or the nature of man, if they imagine that unrestrained political 
liberty can exist, Avithout being taken advantage of by bad men, 
or fools, to perpetrate acts of license. I have always believed 
the ultra-abolitionists to be mad, and to be working blindly in 
the heat of their passionate zeal — working so as to defeat the 
patriotic and humane ends at which they aim. In this opinion, 
the great body of the people in the non-slaveholding States con- 
cur with me — and when the Southern people have persisted in 
holding them responsible for the unwise things done, and the 
fanatical things said by the chief apostles of ultra-abolitionism — 
they have persisted in the face of their most sincere and solemn 
protests, in doing them a gross and cruel injustice. The great 
body of the people in all the non-slaveholding States, are opposed 
to the extension of slavery into free territories, and believing 



24 

that emaucipatiou would be the greatest buou that could be con- 
ferred upon the people of the Southern States, they would be 
glad to witness the adoption of some plan for that purpose, by 
the Legislatures of those States, that would be compatible with 
the rights of the masters, and the interests of the slaves. This 
is the prevailing sentiment ; and he who holds it, can with no 
more truth, or justice, be identified with such men as Wendel 
Phillips and Lloyd Garrison, than a pure-minded christian can be 
identified with a Brahmin or a Mohammedan. This is the 
grand mistake of the masses of the Southern people. Influenced 
by their political leaders, they have been taught to confound the 
conservatives of the free States with the fanatics. While the 
conservatives are from interest, reason, and conscience, opposed 
to slavery, they are ready to grant to the South every right that 
can be claimed under the constitutional compact, and hold them- 
selves pledged to support the legitimate authority of every State 
in the union. I was born and bred in a slave State, and I declare 
to you this day, that if the federal government were to attempt 
to nullify any law of the State of Maryland, not in conflict with 
the Constitution, that State should have in support of her just 
cause, every impulse of my heart, every prayer of my lips, and 
every drop of blood in my vein?. 

But no such plea can be made for the rebel States of the south. 
Upon the south have been lavished the chief political favors, and 
upon the south rests the foul imputation of the first attempt to 
strike down the mighty and generous band of a free people, that 
has so often decked her brow with the highest honors of the 
nation. What are the facts in this controversy that is now to be 
decided by an appeal to the sword ? The general fact, including 
all particular facts, is, that the federal administration, with all that 
it implies, has, with rare and brief exceptions, been in the hands 
of the south from the formation of the government to this day. 
The free States have again and again been defeated at the ballot- 
box, by the skillful combinations and management of the southern 
politicians, and each time have returned to their honest labors. 
Poor mud-sills^ as they are, they know nothing of the spirit of 
chivalry, and have only sense enough to be good and loyal citi- 
zens, whether in or out of oflfice. Having no first families, they 
have no liercditary official honors to claim, and in their sirapli- 



25 

city, are satisfied with the republican maxim that a majority of 
the voters shall rule the country. The south, I repeat, though 
so far inferior in resources, in population, and in general intelli- 
gence, has had by far the largest share of the federal patronage, 
and by combination with northern parties, has generally won and 
worn the highest honors in the gift of the nation. The climax of 
honor is in the presidential chair; and that has in the main been 
occupied by southern men. Washington, Jefferson, Madison, 
Monroe, Jackson, Tyler, Polk, and Taylor, were from the south — 
and that man of " Wheatland," whose name shall never pass these 
lips, was a northern man, with southern principles, if he ever had 
any principles at all. After this protracted term of honor, en- 
joyed by the slaveholding south, the free States of the north, that 
had, amidst all their defeats, remained true as steel to the consti- 
tution, and kept on working, voting, and waiting, have at last, by 
constitutional means, elected an honest man and a practical states- 
man, of a free State, to the presidency, and that is all. As to the 
hue and cry set up by the leading demagogues of the south, 
respecting southern rights in the territories of the United States, 
they know, as must every man, who has sense enough to be 
morally accountable, that the supreme law of the land has been 
laid down in their favor, and that the law of nature has been 
ordained against the law of the land. In other words, the deci- 
sion of the Supreme Court of the United States, in the Dred Scott 
case, is the paramount law of the land, and under that decision, 
there is not an acre of territory, belonging to the United States, 
to which a southern planter may not take, and therein hold his 
slaves. And, if it be alleged that the existing law may be an- 
nulled by a subsequent decision, the answer is, that the south would 
thereby sustain no loss. For, if the Dred Scott decision should 
stand till the day of judgment, no slave State could ever be formed 
out of territories that are now free. A law of nature is but an- 
other term for the will of God. And the case of future. States 
stands thus : — They must be formed of citizens, immigrating from 
the existing States of the Federal Union. And in accordance 
with a law of nature, the population of the free States has so flir 
outgrown that of the Slave States, that the territories will of 
necessity be settled by persons, the great majority of whom, will 
hold sentiments against the institution of slavery. All who com- 

4 



20 

plain of this result slioulJ bring their conipluiuts not against the 
Republicans, but against Gocl. He has ordained that the popula- 
tion of a free territory shall outgrow that of a slave territory. No 
packed majorities in Congress — no partial bench in the highest 
courts of law, could ever annul the omnipotent and eternal decree. 
The attempt to do it, would break up the fountains of the great 
deep of nature, and submerge such a government forever, beneath 
its resistless waves. 

Countrymen and brothers! I declare to you, that when a man 
who loves his country, and has a fond eye, and a proud hope for 
her future destiny, looks at the alleged causes of our great rebel- 
lion, the sight is enough to break his heart. If the federl govern- 
ment had been partial in the bestowment of its favors, or unjust 
and. oppressive in the exercise of its demands, that would have 
been some excuse for, though not a justification of the conduct of 
the rebel States. But there is no such ground of excuse. No 
such plea can be offered. So far from it, no government was ever 
so considerate, so impartial, so forbearing. The national vessels 
have been seized. The national armories, dock-yards, and mints 
have been plundered. States, whose every foot of soil was paid 
for out of the federal treasury, have joined in the conspiracy 
against the federal rights. Cabinet councilors, and senators in 
Congress, solemnly sworn to support the constitution, have in the 
face of their oaths, done their utmost to subvert and destroy it. 
Citizens of the United States, bound by every consideration of 
truth, justice, and gratitude to obey the laws, have had the teme- 
rity to appear in the national capital, and claim to be regarded as 
the representatives of a foreign power ! Proposals, reeking with 
the rankest treason, have been made to the federal executive, and 
his council, and the men who dared to make them, have been 
allowed to return to their dishonored homes with their heads 
upon their shoulders. And last of all, our national flag, which 
the mightiest potentates of earth regard with profound reverence, 
has been fired on, and trampled in the dust. All this the federal 
government has borne for months, because the blood of its loyal 
citizens flowed in the veins of the traitors. If foreign enemies 
had committed these outrages, and men enough could not have 
been found to avenge the national honor, the very women and 
children would have risen up and hurled themselves against them. 



I avow it before earth and lieaveu, that this rebelliou is without a 
parallel in the history of mankind. If it were a government partly 
wise and partly unwise, partly just and partly unjust, then paral- 
lels of resistance might be found. If it were a government wholly 
bad, unjust, oppressive, cruel, and crushing, then parallels of 
resistance might be found, and justifiable revolutions, that have 
swept away the political fabrics of ages, and drenched the earth 
with human blood. But this government stands as its immortal 
founders made it. It stands unimpeached and unimpeachable. 
The vilest rebel in all the hosts of its enemies, has never dared to 
wag his tongue against it. For this reason it is, I say, that this 
rebellion stands alone. And, for this reason, the traitors in whose 
hearts it was born, will descend to posterit}^, alone in infamy. 
Even Arnold^ is a knight without shame and without reproach, 
compared with these distinguished leaders of the southern chi- 
valry. They have dishonored the memories, and defiled the 
graves of our glorious dead, and outraged the noblest feelings of 
all living patriots. They have rebelled against God in our inhe- 
ritance — against God in our history — against God in our institu- 
tions. 

CoNOLUSlOxV. 

1. And now, we muse meet the dreadful issue. We must sustain 
this grand cause of God and our country. We must put this re- 
bellion down. The great future demands it, when there will be 
not thirty, but three hundred millions of happy freemen to grate- 
fully acknowledge the sway of our federal government.' The 
hopes of other nations, struggling to be free, demand it. The 
fate of neighboring republics, that have gone to pieces mid storms 
of conflicting passions, and have been in wild confusion dashed 
upon the naked rocks of anarchy, demands it. All our own past 
achievements, all our present claims to progress, power, and 
glory, alike demand it. The real happiness of thirty millions of 
people, for which we are immediately responsible, makes decision 
upon our duty, against which there is no appeal. All that the 
country ever was, all that it is now. is ours to enjoy — ours to 
defend, v 

I frankly confess that I have never been able to comprehend 
the nature of the native born American, who is so bound up in 



28 

local partialities and prejudices, that be does not love the whole 
coantry, and is not proud alike of all the noble deeds of all the 
States that form the union and the nation. All that constitutes 
the glory of the whole country, has been contributed by its 
parts, and is the common property of each citizen of the nation 
at large. The North has furnished its quota, the South its quota, 
the East its quota, the West its quota, to the national greatness. 
The AYest pours in its vast supplies of grain. The North estab- 
lishes great marts of commerce. The South grows cotton for 
the spindles of half the world. The East founds schools, pro- 
motes literature, and makes all manner of wonderful and useful 
inventions. Differently endowed by nature, differently affected 
by local circumstances, yet, each brings block after block of its 
proud achievements, to build up the temple of the nation's fame. 

I have met the representatives of all these great sections in 
foreign climes, and with feelings which you will never know till 
exiled from the land of your birth, have said in my heart — Hail, 
brother of the West ! you • have driven back the savage, have 
swept away mighty forests, have founded great cities, as by 
magic, and built up a vast empire in a few brief years. Hail, 
brother of the North ! in the learned professions, and in all the 
pursuits of agriculture, trade, and commerce, you have achieved 
a proud and honored name. Hail brother of the South ! you 
have preserved the ancient hospitality, have made your highlands 
bloom with cotton, and your lowlands rich with waving fields of 
rice, and far extending tracts of verdant, luscious cane. Hail, 
brother of the East! you have taught rulers how to educate the 
masses, and employers how to bless the laboring poor ; you have 
drawn wealth from naked rocks and snow-capped mountains, 
and those are your swift-winged ships that so gracefully sit the 
bosom of yonder harbor. And when I have thought of the 
nation's charms of beauty, its gifts of eloquence, and its deeds of 
arms, I have said — hail countrymen and brothers ! the glory 
alike belongs to you all. What precious memories cluster about 
you, what sacred charges are reposed in your hands ! With you 
is the dust of Clay and Harrison. With you is the dust of Jay 
and Hamilton. With you is the dust of Adams, Warren, and 
Webster. With you is the dust of Washington and Jefferson, 
of Henry and Madison. I see, as it were, in the centre of a vast 
continent, a temple of glory, within whose consecrated walls 
stand the monuments of our mighty dead, and where, thus pre- 
served, our living heroes shall live forevermore. No false heart 
shall ever breathe beneath its dome. No echoes from traitor 
foot-steps shall ever disturb its sacred silence. 

And that flag with its stripes and stars : what proud reccollec- 
tions it awakens — what heroic devotion it inspires ! I have seen it 
in foreign harbors, and at sunset on the lone sea, and regarding it 



29 

as tlie emblem of all that is brave, generous and free, have lifted 
my bat to it in silent reverence, and burst into tears of pride and 
joy. Nor can I now, nor shall I ever be able to comprehend, 
how any living mortal, who has ever marched to victory under 
its folds, can dare to lift his hand against its rightful dominion. 
Yet, such men there are. Passion, I suppose, has driven them to 
madness ; or if they are not mad, hell itself does not contain a 
spirit lost, that ever incurred the guilt of such black ingratitude, 
or perpetrated a deed so foul with shame and infamy. 

Under that flag, Washington conquered at Yorktown, and 
Jackson at New Orleans, Under that flag, McDonough and 
Perry humbled the haughty pride of Britain on Erie and Cham- 
plain. Under that flag, Jones and Decatur swept the sea. That 
flag was planted by Taylor, on the heights of Monterey, and by 
Scott, o'er the halls of the Montezumas. And shall it now be 
struck to gratify the vaulting ambition of domestic traitors? 
No. By the Eternal God, who made us what we are, it shall 
never be surrendered. Its insults shall be avenged. Its supre- 
macy shall be restored and maintained o'er every square foot and 
inch of land to which it has a rightful claim. This shall be, re- 
gardless of the sacrifice of blood and treasure. For the spirit of 
seventy-six is abroad in all its omnipotence. With mingled 
justice and mercy in its heart, it rides on wings of fiery indig- 
nation. It demands a loyal array of steel that shall be mighty 
and resistless. To this demand, an outraged nation's loyal 
heart responds — Amen. So may it, so shall it be. 

If there shall be nothing in the future, but the same ungrate- 
ful, proud, obstinate, defiant resistance, as in the past, we must 
not waver for one moment, nor pause to count the cost. Our 
liberties, and our very existence as a nation, will be the stake to 
be lost or won. Aye, this moment, the alternative to be accepted 
by the American people, is whether they will be a Mexican Ee- 
public, despicable and despised — a proverb and a bye-word of 
hissing and reproach among the nations — or the greatest empire 
in all the arts of peace, and the most victorious in all the fiery 
issues of war, on which the sun in heaven has ever shone. As 
for me, though I stood alone, I v/ould still be true to what I be- 
lieve to be this nation's God-appointed destiny. But, thank 
heaven, I do not stand alone, I see twenty millions of freemen 
animated by the same inflexible purpose. These will live under 
the flag of the Constitution and the Union, or one and all, be 
carried to their graves wrapt in its folds. There is but one heart 
in all the twenty millions. The calm, deliberate, inexorable 
sentiment of that heart is — if it be necessary, let the shopman's 
door be closed, let the great depots of trade and commerce, be 
silent and desolate — let the anvil cease its ringing, and the plow 
stand rusting in the field; aye, should the stupendous issue for 



:}0 

ouo moment seem doubtful, let the minister before the altoj)' lay 
aside his sacred vestments, and firmly grasp the sword of freedom, 
bestowing in the name of Christ a kiss of fealty upon its flashing 
blade, and let the temples of the living God be left to the music 
of children's praises, and the holy incense of woman's prayers. 
And rushing like an avalanche upon the ranks of this rebellion, 
let us, in the name of God and Washington — 

" Strike till tlie last armeJ foe expires, 
Strike for our altars and our fires, 
Strike for tlie green graves of our sires, 
(<od and our native land." 

2. Bear loith me while I say, that I do not either forget iuho, or 
where I am. This temple is not sacred to Mars, but to Jesus, the 
Prince of Peace. I have not been commissioned to destroy men's 
lives, but to save them from sin and death eternal. But what 
shall avail our temples of peace vv^ithout liberty? What is the 
gospel of salvation worth to men without liberty ? If the Con- 
stitution and the Union be subverted and destroyed, where shall 
any certain guarantee for liberty be found ? If the men succeed, 
who aim at their destruction, because you voted for Abraham 
Lincoln, what may they not do next ? They may next station a 
sentinel over your pulpit, and at the point of the bayonet, dictate 
to you a form of family prayer. They would have just as much 
right to do this, as they had to resist by arms, the exercise of 
your right of suffrage in the last Presidential election. If you 
may not vote for any man for that high of&ce, whom the Consti- 
tution makes eligible, what may you do ? I tell you that in the 
case now pending between the federal government and the rebel 
States, the hand of the tyrant and traitor is grasping at the throat 
of liberty, and would strangle it outright, if a loyal arm did not 
strike it down. If, therefore, I am not only firm in this cause, 
but seem to be severe and unsparing, it is because liberty calls to 
the rescue, and I regard her summons to be as pure in mercy, 
truth, and justice, as are the annointed, glorious feet of the 
eternal throne. 

And if this be true, let not the heart of any loyal citizen 
shrink, or stand aghast, at the prospect now before us. War, it 
is true, even in the sacred cause of liberty, is always painful to 
the feelings of the Christian heart. War is the most terrible of 
all scourges that a righteous God inflicts upon the heads of the 
sinning in this world. War is to be dreaded on all hands, and 
should be avoided till every other expedient has been tried and 
failed. Yet, as great as it must be admitted to be, war is not an 
unmixed calamity. x\nd to encourage the noble hearts that are 
standing by the government in this great crisis, permit me to say, 
that blessings to the nation, great and manifold, will follow the 
achievements of their victorious arms. The American people 
have always been recognized as great in all the pursuits of peace. 



31 

Hereafter they will be recognized as greater still in all the arts of 
war. For many years, the wisest of the European statesmen have 
shaken their heads, and said : " Oh, yes, all this growth of popula- 
tion — all this material and intellectual progress, is very fine, to 
be sure. But their passions will not always slumber. Peaceful 
differences of opinion will break out into conflicts of open vio- 
lence. Then, when the first potent faction shall have appealed to 
the sword, there will b» an end of the great experiment, and they 
will fall back, as our ancestors did, in their superior wisdom, 
upon the principles of hereditary monarchy and military force, 
and be glad to adopt them as necessary in the government of 
nations." God grant, for the sake of the honor of our common 
manhood, that in these instances the" loishes of the prophets may 
not have inspired their predictions. But, when the federal gov- 
ernment shall have placed its feet intriumphupon the neck of this 
rebellion, what will the prophets think of the sources of their 
inspiration ? They'll be utterly confounded. And this nation's 
capability of self-government, will become the most conspicuous 
and glorious of all the truths belonging to modern history, and 
will rest upon the sure conviction of the civilized world. 

Not only so, but the result will contribute as much to the im- 
provement of the national sentiment at home, as to the increase 
of the national reputation abroad. No truth is more certain, than 
that men most highly prize the blessings for which they suffer 
most. And when we shall have suffered for the rescue of our 
institutions, as our fathers did for their original establishment, we 
shall know what it is to be an American citizen, and be ready at 
any moment, with cheerful gratitude, to lay our hearts in sacri- 
fice, upon the altar of our country. Besides this, we know that 
for thirty years, we have from both extremes of the country been 
threatened with disunion. During all that time this has been a 
favorite theme among all classes of political demagogues. We 
have been told over and over again, " if you elect such a man to 
the presidency, or pass such a bill through Congress, we'll break 
up the Union." We have heard such clamor till our patience is 
exhausted. Now, we see the experiment tried; and God be 
thanked, we shall soon see whether it is in the power of man, 
angel, or devil, to make it sure. 

The day on which the head of this rebel monster is laid low in 
the dust, on that very day, the blaspheming atheists of the north 
and east, who have impiously damned the constitution as a cove- 
nant with death and hell, will themselves be damned to public 
silence, scorn, and oblivion, beyond hope of redemption ; and 
the fire-eating demagogues of the south will be struck dumb with 
confusion and dismay. The treason of fanaticism, and the treason 
of nullification, will together stand confounded before the majestic 
face of the whole American people ; and it will be seen that no 



82 

power short of Omnipotence, can arrest this nation, marching- 
onward, to its appointed destiny. 

o. And now, fellow 2)cii^'iots, let me say to you, strike not iii ven- 
geance, hut in stern justice, mingled with sorrow, strike ; and with 
liberty in every blow, let there be mercy and forgiveness in every con- 
quest. We have no fear for the linal issue. We have never had. 
The reasons for our faith cannot — need not now be given. It may 
now only be said that this government is too wisely constructed — 
is too just and strong — is too deeply seated in the hearts of the 
great body of our countrymen, to be dismembered and scattered 
to the winds. The American nation is too young to perish. Her 
institutions occupy too prominent a place in the arrangements of 
Providence, and as examples, are too important to the hopes of 
liberty throughout the world, to be permitted to fall beneath the 
strokes of such perjured and ignoble hands. Our fiat has gone 
forth. Mr. Seward in his instructions to Mr. Adams, says : 

'• You cannot be too explicit or too decided in making known tliat 
there is not now, nor has ever been, nor will there be any — the least, idea 
existing in this government of suffering a cRssolution of this Union to 
take place in any way whatever. There will be here only one nation, and 
one government, and there will be the same republic, and the same con- 
stitutional Union, that have already survived a dozen national changes, 
and chances of government in almost every other country. These will 
stand hereafter, as they are now, objects of human wonder and affection. 
The thought of a dissolution of the Union, peaceably or by force, has 
never entered into the mind of any candid Statesman here, and it is high 
time that it be dismissed by statesmen in Europe." 

To this noble language from our prime minister to our Embas- 
sador at the Court of St. James, the great heart of the nation 
responds with all the earnestness of its patriotic fervor and devo- 
tion. 

"When our land is illumined by Liberty's smile, 

If a foe from within strike a blow at her glory, 
Down, down with the traitor that dares to defile 

The flag of her stars and the page of her story ! 
By the millions unchained when our birth-right was gained. 
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained ! 
And the Star-spangled Banner in triumph shall wave 
While the land of the free is the home of the brave." 

Our example will be copied by distant nations struggling for 
freedom. Our commerce will float on every sea. Our inventions 
will lighten the burdens of toiling millions. Our missionaries, 
bearing upon their lips the everlasting gospel, to the benighted, 
dov/n-trodden victims of superstition, will break their chains, and 
in all the languages of mortal tongues, will sing the sweet hymns 
of Heber, Watts, and Wesley, to the praise of — 

" The triune God of holiness 
Whose glory fills the earth and sky." 

May God Almighty grant it, for the sake of Jesus Christ our 
Lord ! Amen. 



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